


A Very Flustered Lion

by RoksanaLyasin



Series: Dragon Age One Shots [6]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dorian Pavus is a Good Friend, Dorian is a Good Friend, F/M, Light Angst, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fic, Relationship Discussions, Tumblr Prompt, friendly teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 02:23:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11636967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoksanaLyasin/pseuds/RoksanaLyasin
Summary: Cullen is due to depart for a mission in the Hinterlands. That, he can handle. But the woman who will be accompanying him? Not so much. While he is preparing, Dorian decides it's time to set the commander straight, and there's no better way to do that than with a healthy dose of teasing and encouragement.





	A Very Flustered Lion

**Author's Note:**

> **Dragon Age Prompt** | [Click here to read it on Tumblr](https://roksanalyasin.tumblr.com/post/163545142727/a-very-flustered-lion-prompt).  
>  “Not sure if you could tell, but I’m not exactly a people person” for [@nerdanel01](https://nerdanel01.tumblr.com/) and [DWC @dadrunkwriting](http://dadrunkwriting.tumblr.com/).  
>  **Pairing:** Cullen Rutherford/Valina Voclain.

Cullen scratched a few more notes across the page before he returned the quill the inkwell, lifting the report to his gaze. He was due to leave for the Hinterlands in the morning, and Cassandra would be in charge of the training in his absence. She was more than capable as a commander, and there were a few new drills he’d planned to run the recruits through this week. He trusted her to see them completed.

He’d spent the better part of an hour focusing on this task, trying not to think about the… conversation he’d had with Valina shortly before sunset. Trying not to remember the breathy sound of her voice, the husky notes in her carefully crafted accent. Trying not to wonder if she’d really been naked when she answered her door.

Trying not to think about the tantalising glimpse of bronzed skin he’d seen before he covered his eyes.

He’d resisted temptation for weeks, the clamouring desires that flared in her presence, to kiss, to taste, and to _feel_ all that she offered to him in the teasing touches that she stole during their sparring and the sultry caress of her voice when she turned innocent words into wicked promises, but–

 He glanced up when the centre door opened and shut off the line of thought, not wanting the clever mage to see the lingering musing on his face. He was not surprised to see Dorian enter; he’d returned to Skyhold that morning, and it had only been a matter of time before he sought Cullen out to challenge him in chess.

‘I’ll just be a minute, Dorian,’ Cullen said, returning to his task.

‘Is that disappointment I hear in your voice? My, were you hoping for another attractive Tevinter – well, half-Tevinter – to walk in?’

Cullen glanced up again, masking his shock as best he could. ‘Excuse me?’

‘Don’t play coy, Commander. I’ve heard the rumours,’ Dorian said, waggling his finger teasingly as he approached, ‘Chess matches in _our_ usual haunt. Stolen glances at the Herald’s Rest. Full-contact sparring in the training ring. Visits to this very office at all hours of the day, and the night, I hear.’ He placed his hands on the desk, leaning closer. ‘Do tell – has she asked for those silk gloves back?’

Cullen dropped his gaze, busying himself with the paper in his hands, fighting against the flush that rose on his neck at the mention of the token.

‘She doesn’t know I have still them.’

Dorian scoffed. ‘Ha, of course, she does! I’m quite certain she knows more about me that I do and I’ve hardly been in her presence, so she definitely knows everything about you.’

Cullen dropped the page, stifling the tick in his jaw. ‘Look, whatever you might think there’s nothing going on between us.’

‘You always say that, and you’re always wrong.’

Cullen sighed. ‘All she does is bring reports to me,’ he said, returning to his work pointedly. He lifted the page until he could hardly see Dorian around it, pretending to be engrossed in his work. Really, he was trying to hide the flush that rose on his neck as the mage continued to probe.

‘And you play chess. Often, I hear. I must admit I’m rather jealous. It feels like you’re replaced me but I’m not much of a flirt nowadays so I suppose I can forgive you just this once. Besides, I bet she could burn your ears off in Tevene if she chose, the saucy minx. I’d say I’m offended, but if she can finally get you to loosen up and–’

‘It’s just chess, Dorian,’ Cullen said, dropping his hands back to the desk, abandoning the note, ‘next, you’ll be telling me that sparring is foreplay.’

‘I certainly will,’ Dorian said, waggling his eyebrows at the irate commander.

‘You’re intolerable,’ Cullen muttered through his teeth, turning away from the suggestive look as he pushed back from his desk, rising to return a worn leather-bound volume to his bookshelf.

Unperturbed, Dorian continued. ‘Sparring is a fine excuse for two skilled fighters like you and Valina to get hot and heavy, and she certainly seems to enjoy knocking you on your arse and straddling you. I’m surprised you managed to restrain yourself from jumping her right there in the ring after that last bout, especially if my sources are correct and she did indeed strip you. Did she really steal your shirt off your back?’

Cullen clutched at the bookshelf for a moment, remembering the clever move, remembering how she’d crouched over him with a satisfied smile and a wicked glance along the planes of his abdomen. He’d seen the heat in her gaze then, admiration even, or so he thought. They hadn’t spoken about the incident, and again he reminded himself _it’s just a game._

‘Yes,’ he admitted gruffly, turning back to face the mage, ‘she did steal my shirt. What does that matter?’

‘Cullen, you have to be the single most oblivious man I know. You said yourself after we returned from Halamshiral that you wanted this – that you wanted to see her again – and she’s in Skyhold, has been for _weeks_. And by the sounds of it, not only is she interested in you, she’s spent the better part of her time here trying to get you naked, and that she half-succeeded!’

‘She’s the one who keeps suggesting I strip her, not the other way around.’

Dorian stared blankly at Cullen for a moment, too thunderstruck by the words to pay attention to the rising colour on the commander’s cheeks.

‘For someone so smart,’ Dorian said finally, ‘you can be incredibly thick.’

 Cullen’s jaw tightened, and he moved back to his desk. ‘Don’t you have some books to read,’ Cullen said curtly, ‘I have a mission to prepare for, and an early start, so why don’t you just leave me be.’

Much to Cullen’s frustration, the mage remained opposite him, still leaning on the desk.

‘A mission with Valina, yes?’

‘Yes.’

‘Just the two of you?’

Cullen resisted the urge to roll his eyes, slumping into his chair. ‘Yes.’

‘You realise this is a chance don’t you?’ Dorian said, ‘you’ve been skirting around this issue for weeks. Why not just make a move? See where it could go?’

‘I don’t know.’ Cullen sighed, rubbing at his furrowed brow. ‘I do want… _something_ with her, but I don’t even know how to broach the subject, let alone if she’ll accept me if I do.’

‘It’s at least worth a try, isn’t it?’

Cullen glanced up. Dorian was watching him intently, but there was a softness behind his eyes, a quiet encouragement in the tentative smile on his lips. The mage hid so effectively behind his blasé exterior that it was rare for him to reveal this side of his personality, let alone show it to Cullen.

‘I’ll… try, Dorian,’ he said finally, leaning his elbows on his desk, ‘I can’t promise more than that. Now, I really should finish this up.’

Dorian straightened, smoothing out his robes. ‘Well, I know when I’m being dismissed,’ he said, arching a dark brow at Cullen, cool persona in full force again, ‘but I’ll expect details when you return.’

 Cullen waved absently at the words, waiting until the door closed behind the mage before he placed his head in his hands. He wound his fingers into the tamed strands, gripping his scalp as he tried to anchor his thoughts, refusing to let them overwhelm him.

Soon, he turned his mind to the coming mission, to the road on which they would have to travel to reach the Cormont Estate, and an idea sparked in the back of his mind.

He released his grip on his hair, sitting up straighter, glancing at the map which he had marked the estate’s location on. He pulled it closer, looking down at the mark, at the proximity it held to fond memories, and a tentative smile curled on his lips.

 _Sometimes_ , he remembered Dorian saying all those weeks ago, _hope is all we have_.

And so Cullen would cling to it and hope he could see his plan through. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments always appreciated <3


End file.
